*A beloved grandmother and a retired cop are among the victims named in the racist massacre on Saturday when a white supremacist gunman targeted Black customers and employees at the Tops Friendly Markets grocery store in Buffalo, N.Y.
10 people were murdered by Payton S. Gendron, 18, in the predominantly Black neighborhood. The killer reportedly traveled about 200 miles from Conklin, N.Y. to carry out the deadly attack.
Three people sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the shooting. According to Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia, 11 of the 13 total victims were Black, per CNN.
All the victims have been named in a PEOPLE report.
Ruth Whitfield, Roberta Drury, Aaron Salter, and Deacon Heyward “Tenny” Patterson, were just four of the murder victims of the white supremacist terrorist attack at the Tops supermarket in Buffalo. #Buffalo #buffalohatecrime #BuffaloShooting pic.twitter.com/olJYcUD0S4
— Ezequiel Aguilar (@EAZYEFosho) May 16, 2022
Security guard Aaron Salter fired multiple shots at Gendron but had no effect as the gunman was wearing armor. Gendron then killed Salter, as well as Ruth Whitfield, 86, the mother of retired Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield.
“From her daily sojourn to care for my father, she left the nursing home and stopped right there, a few blocks from the nursing home, at the store to grab something while on the way home. She didn’t deserve to be murdered,” her son, Garnell Whitfield Jr., 65, tells PEOPLE.
“She loved us beyond measure, unconditionally. She loved us to a fault, even when we were wrong.” He added, “She was an epitome of love. And we aspire to be as much like her as we can.”
Salter’s cousin, Johnny Juliano, called him “a true hero who risked his life trying to defend those helpless during a racist attack.”
The gunman livestreamed the attack. He is currently in custody without bail. A felony hearing is scheduled for Thursday. Gendron has pleaded not guilty, according to the report.
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